ABSTRACT
In October 1963, only weeks after the foundation of a new nation-state called Malaysia, Eng Wah Organization sponsored a group of Amoy-dialect celebrities to tour the region to promote a handful of new films that the firm had financed (The Straits Times 10 October 1963). The delegation, which included a new starlet by the name of Hong Teng, was led by two of the most recognisable names in the industry: Oh Tong and Wong Ching-ho. Oh and Wong scripted the stage routines that the group performed. They also composed a song specifically for the tour, with a verse dedicated to each of the Malaysian localities in which they appeared. Their song praised Penang for being ‘more fun than New York’, Borneo for being ‘rich in natural resources’ and Kuala Lumpur for being the new ‘Malay capital’ (Malai shoudu) (Zheng and Zhang 1963: 18-19).
